The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの陰謀) is the seventh volume in the Haruhi light novel series. It was written by Tanigawa Nagaru with illustrations by Ito Noizi. This seventh volume was originally released in Japan in 2005 and in English in 2012.
Click here to read the synopsis of the sixth volume, The Wavering of Haruhi Suzumiya. This series is 20 years old at this point, but spoilers follow.
Kyon finally goes back to December 18th with Nagato and Asahina to save himself from Asakura as she tries to stop him from resetting the world to 'normal' mode. With everything he is aware of now in its place he is looking forward to some less exciting days as the school year comes to a close. Something troubles him though with Haruhi's attitude. She seems off somehow, distracted, perhaps a little depressed and has been that way since the beginning of February. But, if nothing strange takes place, Kyon isn't going to worry about it too much, trying to enjoy her being a little subdued for once. Just when he thinks his life will be calmer he finds himself hiding in the club rooms utility closet with Asahina from eight days in the future. She has come back in time, at future Kyon's request, for reasons unknown. With no help for why there are now two versions of Asahina in the present, Kyon suddenly finds himself as the cause of his problems. First thing first, he has to hide her from the version of her that should exist in this timeline and while picking her brain for clues to the reason behind her appearance.
From what he can gather, everything seems to be tied between an SOS Brigade outing over an extended holiday weekend, where they fruitlessly tear up Tsuruya's family mountain in search of hidden treasure and a failed attempt at searching the city for abnormalities. The future Asahina was instructed to travel eight days in the past at the conclusion of a shady fundraising event Haruhi puts on, dressing Asahina as a shrine maiden. As they struggle to keep her hidden and to try to understand why she would be sent back, Kyon receives instructions from the adult version of Asahina, instructing him to do certain things for unspecified reasons. One such activity, during the Brigade outing leads eight days in the future Asahina and Kyon to encounter a boy who appears to be from a rival time traveling faction. The first antagonist to their world since the eradication of Asakura.
Shaken by the sudden appearance of an enemy, Kyon vows to do whatever it takes to protect what he and his brigade members have. He vows to protect Asahina's future to the best of his abilities, confident that Nagato and even Koizumi will be reliable allies in the coming struggles. Before he can deal with those unknowns he still has more tasks to complete for future Asahina. The foreknowledge that their treasure hunting mission was a failure makes the task of digging randomly in the dead of winter even more miserable. Yet, despite the lack of success, Haruhi does not seem bothered and instead remains optimistic. After two days of failure they shift course and revive the town patrols they did on their first outing as a group. This is the segment of time where Kyon has to complete a few tasks and stresses himself over the details and the ability to keep furute Asahnia hidden as well as not arousing any suspicion from Haruhi.
Things seem to go smoothly as they near the second day of patrols when a van speeds up beside he and future Asahina and snatch her off of the street before Kyon can register what is happening. In a moment of panic he calls Haruhi to tell her Asahnia was just abducted...but Haruhi doesnt fall for his prank as Asahina is right next to here....this times Asahina. Kyon backs out of the mistake and hangs up, to then recieve a covert call from Koizumi. Koizumi tells him that hsi people are already in motion and he will be getting into a taxi to join the rescue operation. he taxi pulls up and Kyon with the butler and maid from the two previous murder mystery games chase after the offenders. The chase leads them into the hills near where they were digging for treasure and with an assist by the brothers from the murder games the culprits are trapped.
Kyon now gets a moment to appreciate the situation and the real threat they are all in as a small group of people exit the van, along with an unconscious Asahina. Kyons allies are willing to let them go if they agree to never interfer with the Haruhi group again. The agree and leave the mountain on foot, abandoning their van. The last person to leave the vehicle is the same boy from the previous day. Their conversation confirms Kyons suspicion that this guy is a rival time traveler. With Asahnia from 8 days in the future secure Kyon returns to the group, unable to tell Haruhi about the excitement he was involved in. The following day they get together again to visit Tsuruya's mountain. Haruhi instructs them to dig in the same spot they had before. Not expecting anything, given they had dug it up earlier and replaced the dirt, they are shocked to discover a carefully burying container with handmade Valentines Day chocolates from the three girls. Everything clicks into place as to Haruhi's behavior and Kyon is glad that the fate of the world is still secure. Now he just has to make sure that this time lines Asahani succeeds in going back to the past 8 days to set everything into motion.
Not since the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya have we had one complete story for a volume. This was a great return to form from the disjointed tales of the past few volumes. The actual plot of this story though is less than relevant, whats important is the sudden appearance of rival factions that have before only been hinted at or hidden players in events. Now Kyon has seen them face to face and the sense of threat is stronger than ever. This volume really dealt a lot with solidifying Kyon's resolve to take on the roll that was thrust onto him since Haruhi took an interest in him. His role as the lighthouse in Haruhi's skewed worldview. Even if its more to protect the world of Asahina and Nagato, he has finally resolved to do everything he can to make sure things stay the course hes been informed if the correct path. Things are beginning to click into place for him related to the future Asahina and why she is doing things the way she does. His next concern is how much he can trust Koizumi's association of espers. So far they have only been helpful and considerate, but his suspicion of Koizumi clouds his opinion of those associated with him.
Its hard to see an end point for the story that has been evolving nicely over its course. I keep wondering if we will ever see the characters outside of high school and how much time will actually transpire during the last remaining volumes of the story. How much are we going to lean into Haruhi's feelings for Kyon? To me the short stories seem to be the weakest, Nagaru really needs a long form narration to tell a compelling story. Hopefully more of the later volumes will stick with one contained story that further expands the world and its secrets. At the writing of this review the newest volume of the light novel is already out and activities to celebrate the anime are also pending in Japan. I keep hoping this sudden live for this franchise could mean a third season of the anime. There's obviously plenty of story to be told that only exists in the light novels. But I dream too much some times...sometimes.
Next up, the Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya.
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